Hundreds of rank-and-file women attended the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) conference. Total participation was nearly 800, far more than the organizers had anticipated. Steelworkers came from almost every state, many parts of Canada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the call for the conference USWA president George Becker wrote that there would be no limit on the number of delegates a local could send and encouraged them to "seek out female members who reflect the diversity of our Union and composition of the locals and districts."

"USWA Women in Action--Solidarity and Leadership," was the official theme of the meeting, which included plenary sessions, workshops, and other events. Workshops included community and political action; pension, insurance and other benefits; addressing harassment issues inside the union; opportunities for organizing; balancing work and family; and health and safety issues.

Many workers involved in struggles against company lockouts placed their stamp on the conference, although they weren't on the official agenda. At least a dozen workers locked out by Kaiser Aluminum attended from Spokane and Tacoma, Washington. Also participating were a half-dozen locked-out AK Steel workers from Mansfield, Ohio, and a contingent of locked-out Scottsboro Aluminum workers from Scottsboro, Alabama.

The locked-out workers made a big effort to reach out to other conference participants to tell about their struggles and to raise funds. The Kaiser workers set up an information table in the room with the other display tables, where the union's political action committee, various districts, and others were selling USWA merchandise and holding a raffle.

The Kaiser women also sold colorful Rosie the Riveter, "A woman's place is in her union," T-shirts, sweatshirts, and buttons out of their hotel room. They all were hot items, with many participants wearing them after the first day of the conference. The AK Steel women organized fund-raising in the hallways, selling "Stop AK Steel/Armco Lockout" buttons with a red stop sign logo. They raffled off some union jackets and a life-size soft sculpture woman clad in the familiar safety gear of a steelworker: hard hat, flame resistant green suit, and steel-toed boots. They held the raffle in their hotel room, raising about $1,300.

A worker ran off a case of flyers for the March 25 rally in solidarity with the AK Steelworkers in Mansfield in order to put one on each seat in the Grand Ballroom where the plenary sessions were held.  
 

'Education of a lifetime'

When the locked-out workers from Kaiser, AK Steel, and Scottsboro were introduced at the banquet, they received an ovation from the gathered workers. The table of miners from the Iron Range and southern Wyoming responded most enthusiastically, leaping to their feet with fists in the air. A collection was taken later that evening for the locked-out workers.

These women brought a fighting spirit and a real air of enthusiasm to the conference proceedings. "For 10 years I just went to work and went home, like a robot," said Jody Wiesocki, who worked at Kaiser in Spokane. "The lockout woke me up. It has been the education of a lifetime. I'm having the best time of my whole life."

Rubber workers from Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, New York, and Tennessee used the meeting to discuss the April 23 expiration of the master agreement for several tire companies. Most rank-and-file women seemed to especially enjoy meeting one another and exchanging experiences both in the workshops and informally.

The American nationalist themes around the World Trade Organization (WTO), NAFTA, sweatshops, and China were pushed by the union officials throughout the conference. For example, a "town hall" speak-out February 7 began with a video about sweatshops in Saipan. Participants were then asked to speak about how they had lost their jobs due to NAFTA, and then there were reportbacks from participants in the anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle late last year.

One speaker, however, went against the tide of the USWA's economic nationalism. Simone Berg, a rubber worker from Des Moines, explained that the bosses are responsible for plant closures and layoffs, not workers in other countries.

Kristin Meriam is a member of USWA Local 12014 in Birmingham, Alabama.  
 
 
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